warning! gore descriptions.
"Give me a break, I miss my wife already," Jotaro grumbled under his breath as they approached the farm.
"How old is your kid?" y/n asked softly as they scanned the surrounding area.
"She's 7," he answered. "Hey the trivia later okay? We have a rat extermination to do."
"You promise?"
"I-" Jotaro seemed to have wanted to snap at y/n but sighed when he saw her pinky extended out. "Yes I promise." he sealed the pinky promise as Josuke flung open the front door that was left ajar.
"The rat will let us approach within a certain distance," Jotaro returned to his business state, following after Josuke into the house. "Because it's confident that no slow human is going to catch it."
Y/n followed after him, looking around at the furnishings of the house.
"The rat doesn't expect us to blast bearings at it. That's how we'll get close enough to nail it in one shot."
"Found something," y/n glanced to Jotaro as he squatted near a wall. "Rat droppings. Not made up of grass or grain either." the two of them walked over to his side. "It's meat."
A chill ran down y/n's spine and she shook herself out of it as she followed Jotaro's gaze to a room behind him. "They're heading toward this room. Let's check it out." y/n stopped as she noticed Josuke halt in his tracks, he craned his neck a little to look into the kitchen where the white fridge stood in the dark ominously.
"Josuke?" he turned his body to the kitchen.
"Do you hear that y/n?" he approached the kitchen, y/n glanced over at Jotaro before backtracking to go over to Josuke's side.
"That's the sound of the refridgerator's conpressor...?" the two of them stood hovering at the door, both too afraid to step in.
The movement of the refrigerator door scared the both of them shitless and they both flinched together.
How did the fridge door open by itself? y/n swallowed her own saliva and tip toed a little. The magnet got weakened?
Her eyes widened as she spotted the butt of the rat squeezing into the small gap, she turned to Josuke and he too, carried the same expression as her.
He must have seen it too.
The rat opened the refrigerator door? How the hell did it do that? y/n slowly lowered herself from her tiptoe stance and slowly took out the bearings that Jotaro had handed them before hand.
The rat suddenly turned its head and made direct eye contact with y/n, she felt her body tense up as its beady black eyes bore into hers, it's whiskers twitching as it studied her.
Fuck. Was all y/n could think as she tried to relax her body.
As if on cue, the refrigerator door swung open slowly to reveal a clump of flesh lumped together, with two elderly heads groaning.
Y/n felt bile rise in her throat, this couldn't...was this the couple that resided in this farmhouse?
Their limbs stuck out of the flesh clump in odd angles, their eyes moving ever so slightly as they twitched little by little.
Did the rat....do this..? y/n steadied her breathing as the rat chewed on something, it's eyes still trained on her. The rat used it's Stand to..the owners..fuck they're in the fridge! Don't tell me this rat knows about food safety!
Y/n's eyes fell to the thing the rat was eating and bit her bottom lip hard when she realised what it was chewing on.
It was a part of the owner's body.
Most probably it's finger.
Y/n gave a side glance to Josuke who only gave a slow point to the bearings she had clenched in her fist.
"Composure ahead of speed" he mouthed to her as he returned to looking at the rat.
Composure ahead of speed. Fuck, i only got one try!
Y/n cursed her horrid Stand range of 1.2 meters and prepared to flick the bearing.
She had to get it done in one try.
She had to kill that motherfucker of a rat in one try.
y/n considered the structure of the room, her eyes sliding over the table and chairs that stood as an obstacle for her.
The rat didn't seem to see Josuke but had its eyes continuously trained on y/n as it nibbled away at the flesh of the poor owners.
Y/n moved to the side a little, tensing up when the rat stopped eating.
I have to shoot from here?!
"You goddamn fucking annoying rat," y/n muttered through gritted teeth and flicked the bearings as hard as she could.
The bearings tore off a chunk of meat from the rat's thigh and the rat let out a loud squeak.
"Did you get it?" Josuke whispered.
"It wasn't fatal," y/n said in her normal voice level. "Looks like I have to fuck this rat up my way." the rat glowed green and summoned its own Stand, a weird bot looking stand appearing.
"I'll get it in the next blow! Don't fuck with me!" she prepared the next bearing.
The rat darted under the table and y/n let out an angry yell, summoning Gentle to smash the table into two and blocking the other entrance to the kitchen.
The rat summoned its Stand and prepared to shoot her from behind the broken bits of the table.
Y/n let out a slow breath before flicking the bearing again, this time all her concentration on where the rat's head was.
The Stand shot something, a pin like needle flew towards her.
She looked around frantically for something to block it as the needle flew closer towards her, she couldn't find anything and squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
A small 'clang' made her open her eyes and she saw Crazy Diamond holding a frying pan in front of her, deflecting the needle and making it drop to the floor helplessly.
y/n's attention immediately moved back to the rat to check whether it was alive and let out a yelp when she spotted it's head.
"Damn it! It's still-"
"It's dead y/n, that's its head." Josuke moved to her side, pointing at the decapitated head of the rat that lay on the floor near the table it was hiding behind.
"Thank God," y/n let out a huge sigh and wiped her brow. "Thank you so much Josuke I swear I could kiss you right now."
"Then kiss me?"
"I almost died, maybe later?" he smiled at her before calling for Jotaro.
"Hey Jotaro! We got the rat!"
the tall man lumbered from the other room without saying anything and entered the kitchen, taking a look at the owners that were still alive before looking at the dead rat.
"Jeez what were you doing Jotaro? Y/n and I were facing the rat by ourselves!"
"The rat..shot some weird needle thingy," y/n squatted down to look at the dart. "I bet if it hit me..."
"It would melt your flesh," Josuke finished her sentence. Y/n looked to Jotaro who was silent this whole while.
Something was wrong right?
"Anyways, the people who got hit are still alive so I can use Crazy Diamond to fix them," y/n followed Josuke'a gaze to the mutilated ball of flesh in the fridge.
Jotaro then stood up, still not facing them. "If we don't take care of this by sundown, we may have a problem." He turned to them. "There's one more. I was just attacked by it."
He lifted his hand out of his pocket to reveal a mangled up flesh blob which made squelching sounds as he held it up for the both of them to see.
"J-jotaro your hand.."
"I was hit in the next room," his eyes rested on the clump of flesh that clung onto his bones. "I could have dodged it. Grabbing it to figure out the effects of those needles was a mistake. Just by touching the needle, some kind of 'Stand poison' courses through you, melting even Stands."
Pus broke out from a throbbing bulge in his skin and y/n flinched, covering her mouth with a hand.
"A few of these darts and it would be enough to turn a human into mush," y/n shivered as she thought about it.
If it wasn't for that frying pan, y/n's main organs would have been mushed around just like Jotaro's hand but maybe for her, she wouldn't be lucky enough to live.
"The rat ran outside afterward," Jotaro stared at his hand without much expression. "It must've figured out that you finished off the one in the kitchen." He turned his head slightly to face Josuke. "I hate to ask, but i'm sort of waiting for you to fix me up quickly."
"Oh, right.." he summoned Crazy Diamond and healed Jotaro's hand quickly.
Once they were done, Jotaro went to make a call to the Speedwagon foundation.
Y/n decided to wait outside, looking around the farm before taking a chair that was nearby and sitting down.
The house gave her the creeps and she didn't like it. Jotaro did mention that the rat ran out of the house, but the silence made her uneasy.
It was...like.... y/n couldn't think of anything more.
She didn't expect to be doing rat hunting and hell, she didn't want to do it at all.
She grumbled to herself as she picked at her fabric of her long skirt.
Her mothers murderer...how far was she from finding out?
Every Stand encounter didn't give any valuable information or most of the time, any information at all.
It frustrated her a lot. What if the murderer had already ran away from Morioh?
What if the reason why the case instantly went cold was because the police knew that it was impossible to catch the murderer?
Or hell- y/n stopped dead in her thoughts.
Did she..kill her mother?
Her eyes widened as she stared at the soil, her fingers trembling slightly.
Her foggy memories, the unexplainable lack of weapons, her Stand- could it be...?
"Y/n," she jumped at her name being called and spun around so quickly in her chair that she fell off, plopping onto the dirt. Josuke stood behind the chair surprised, he went forward and held a hand out.
Y/n took it and stood up, brushing her skirt.
"Sorry I was lost in thought," Josuke still held her hand as she explained herself. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.
What if it was true?
What if her Stand had some ability that made her forget?
"What are you thinking about?" Josuke pushed the chair over to her and grabbed another one, settling himself down beside her.
"About..." y/n stared out into the vast tall grass that stretched on for as much as her eyes could see. "About...her." she ended lamely.
"Your mom?" he asked.
"I feel useless, there's like no clues and everyone has zero leads on what happened to her and it's so frustrating because this town seems to also hold this dark secret and I'm just-" she slammed her fist into the side of the house, wood splintering and giving way. "I just want to get this done and over with already."
Josuke reached over to pull her hand out of the hole made in the house and brushed the broken pieces off. "I promised you before that I would help you wouldn't I?" he fixed the house before looking at her. "I promised you that we would find the murderer together."
"But..there's only so much we can do," y/n let out a groan. "We're only teenagers!"
"With Stands, don't tell me you forgot that," he let go of her hand and leant back in his chair slightly, crossing his right leg over his left. "We also got Jotaro..Okuyasu, Koichi...maybe even Yukako would be willing to help."
"And?"
"I'm saying that we have a chance okay?" he laughed at her pessimism and nudged her. "Things will be okay."
"Urgh try to convince me that," y/n rubbed her temples and leant back onto her chair too.
"As long as we're friends and well ," he lowered his voice. "as long as we're dating too, you're with me now and I got you."
Y/n sighed and gently punched Josuke's shoulder.
"Thank you," she felt a little bad that she'd been receiving his help all this while and yet, never actually helping Josuke in any way. "I..hope you know you got me too..?"
"I know you got me y/n," he gave her a small smile just as Jotaro walked out from the house.
"Let me confirm. It was two, and not three or four?" he listened to the reply before ending the call, sighing heavily. "Good grief, Akira Otoishi..."
He glanced over to the two of them. "Come on get up, we have a rat that is seemingly liking everything in its territory, whether they are humans or it's own kind."
"Selfish rat?" Jotaro nodded his head.
"Well, it's not a creature that should be allowed to live on this Earth anymore."
•••
"How are we planning to chase after a tiny little rat that ran out into this open field?" Josuke asked as the three of them trekked on the muddy path leading away from the farmhouse and back towards the irrigation canal.
Y/n stepped over a dead bird as Josuke explained that there's no animal that cannot be tracked.
"Rats have a habit of not wanting to go down an unfamiliar path," he said. "Which means, without a doubt, it went back into the irrigation canal."
Jotaro stopped at a patch of lettuce growing. "And if they don't eat often, they will die from starvation after about ten hours."
He squatted down and pushed one lettuce aside, revealing another behind it with bite marks on it's stem and well, shit there.
"Fresh bite marks."
"Great! That means we'll be able to corner it!" Josuke said enthusiastically.
Y/n could only just scowl at the idea of eating and shitting at the same time, looks like rats were extremely fond of doing that.
They climbed down the steps of the canal and y/n's eyes moved over to the uneaten bait in the rat traps. It didn't like tempura?
Jotaro reached over and viewed the footage, Josuke and y/n moving over to peer over from the sides.
"It's ear looks like a leaf that's been eaten on by a bug, let's call it Bug-eaten from now on." the rat in the video seemed to be observing its surroundings and it glanced back at the camera, making y/n feel a little uncomfortable.
"Look it's so cautious, Bug-eaten most probably won't let us within 20 meters of him," Jotaro kept the camera in his bag as y/n sighed.
"Ah geez what now-" Josuke let out a yelp when Jotaro casually held up rifle rounds.
"I brought four of these," y/n took one from him and rolled it between her fingers. She never touched a bullet before let alone saw one, so since it was here now, it didn't hurt to check it out didn't it?
"Why actual rounds?"
"Air resistance," jotaro answered simply. "When round bearings fly over 20 meters, the point of impact goes off course." he pointed to the y arrow head of the rifle bullet. "With the head of this round, we'll be okay up to 70 meters."
"Am i gonna shoot that with my Stand's hand too? I'm not confident with this at all," Josuke swatted his hand while both Jotaro and y/n looked at him pointedly.
He didn't even shoot the rat just now, shouldn't y/n be the one that didn't have much confidence?
"Of course not. I guess i'll just have to do it," Jotaro stood up and turned away, y/n saw the corners of Josuke's lips twitch a little before he called after Jotaro, annoyance lingering in his voice.
"Hold on, why must you say it like that?" y/n prayed that they wouldn't start fighting now because it'll be stupid. "That kind of pissed me off."
"You didn't even try shooting the rat yet?" y/n interrupted, brushing her skirt somewhat annoyed. "So why are you offended?"
Josuke glared at her, y/n glaring back at him. Neither of them faltered until Jotaro held two rounds in front of Josuke's face.
"You get two rounds kiddo, y/n can just chill or something."
"I can?"
"Yeah sure."
Josuke stared at the two rounds as y/n followed after Jotaro, excited for the rat to finally meet its end.
•••
"The rat's tracks are pretty obvious huh," y/n commented as she walked along side the tracks.
"And the rat wants to swim oo."
The tracks led into a huge puddle of..y/n could only say that she was sure it was water plus some other stuff or something.
Jotaro said nothing as he glanced at the tracks before casually walking into the puddle, shoes and socks still on, the water most possibly drenching them.
Y/n took a smarter approach and walked to the sides as Josuke looked down at his shoes with worry.
"T-they're new.." he mumbled.
"You can walk by the sides, the shoes get a lil bit wet though."
"I can't get it wet!" y/n laughed at him as he took off his socks and shoes, holding them in his hands and mouth as he entered the puddle bare footed.
"Careful, they're leeches in this puddle," Jotaro held a hand out for y/n to hold as she hopped from the sides.
"What-" Josuke opened his mouth and one of his shoe dropped in, followed by his socks.
"NOOO"
"I told you the sides were better."
•••
(this chapter is so long i can't wait for the rat to fucking die)
They reached a huge clearing where the tracks just..stopped.
"Be careful," Jotaro looked around. "The footprints suddenly disappear here."
"How's that possible?" Josuke ran to the front to check out the halted footprints. "I know it's under the dirt. It must've dug a hole, then covered itself."
Y/n squatted down to look at the tracks and frowned when she spotted that the last few footprints had a slight lesser indent compared to the rest.
"Did it backtrack?" she asked and Jotaro nodded.
"I didn't think rats did this too.." y/n stood up and the three of them looked around warily, moving quickly so that they're backs were against each other's.
"Does that mean, basically, that the rat put one over on us?"
"Tom and jerry level kinda genius," y/n mumbled, thinking of jerry the mouse.
"Things aren't looking too good. With this terrain..we might actually be the ones who are being hunted." Jotaro muttered.
"And I feel that we're being watched," Josuke reached for y/n's hand and held it as if to give her assurance.
Y/n tugged Jotaro's sleeve and slowly the three of them moved to hide behind a nearby rock.
"Big-eaten' Stand-"
"Call it a fucking Bug already-"
"ATTACK isn't too fast for us to see," Jotaro talked over her, rolling his eyes. "Don't miss where it's coming from. If we can find where it's hiding, we'll shoot it instead."
"Can i start misting?" y/n asked.
"Bug-eaten may get suspicious though, not to mention we don't know where it's hiding now and it'll most probably target you first-"
"Ow what the hell!" Josuke's hand was caught in a mouse trap, he stood up and clawed at it, biting his lip. "It fricking snagged me with one of our mouse traps?!"
A shooting sound suddenly echoed and before they could reach, the same thorny needle had found its way into Josuke's neck.
"Star platinum, the world!"
Josuke stumbled backwards, clutching at the open wound on his neck.
"Don't panic, i've already removed the needle before the poison could spread along with the flesh that it pierced."
"During the duration of when?!" y/n asked in disbelief.
"I'll explain later, do put a bandage on that." Jotaro glanced up the hill in front of the rock. "And I figured out where the rat's hiding." He pointed upwards. "Halfway up the hill and behind those rocks."
"You're amazing! Both the rat and you , Jotaro!" Josuke exclaimed, his own blood dripping down his sleeve. "Am I the only loser this time around?"
"And you keep chiding ME when i make jokes like this!" y/n scowled at Josuke as he held up an apologetic hand up. She tossed him a bandaid and he took it, thanking her.
Together they hid behind the rock and cooked up a plan.
"I'll mist it to get Bug confused and well, I can travel in the mist so if i get close enough i'll shoot Bug!" y/n gave Jotaro a thumbs up as he shook his head and passed her one rifle round.
"You missed before and I don't want you wasting the bullets." Jotaro sighed before he looked to Josuke. "So let's say that shes able to get close to Bug-Eaten, we still need a plan B just in case, well I actually feel that she'll miss so-"
"Do you not have faith in me!?" y/n grumbled, nudging Jotaro as she summoned her Stand to start emitting mist.
"I indeed do not." he replied, shrugging. He passed Josuke the last round. "Josuke. At this distance, the round will go up like a slider, so aim one centimetre lower than the target."
He stood up and started to walk towards the hill.
"Jotaro what are you doing?"
"I'm going to get closer so it'll shoot the needles," he glanced back to y/n. "Not to mention y/n needs time to cover such a huge area. It'll be a 3 way attack I guess."
Mist gushed out faster from Gentle's wrists as y/n concentrated on pushing it out.
"But you're last hope Josuke. You're doing to find the rat and you're going to end it." y/n glared at Jotaro as he glanced at her. "Y/n would act like a destruction too, I doubt she'll be able to land a hit-"
"Yeah yeah okay," y/n tossed her bullet to Josuke. "Let golden boy do everything," she softened and offered Josuke a smile. "You can do it."
Josuke looked at them both alarmed as Jotaro started to walk up the now mist shrouded hill and y/n was covered by the mist, eventually disappearing.
Y/n looked around confused in her mist form, she traveled once or twice before, but heck, she felt as light as a feather when she walked in the mist.
She carefully made sure the mist spread around the hill, tapping her finger impatiently while she waited for the mist to spread itself.
The more it spread however, the less dense the fog became. After all, mist clumped together did become a fog.
She looked back towards Josuke who seemed to be incredibly stressed by the amount of responsibility was placed on his shoulders.
Y/n felt a little sorry for him so she promised herself to give him a small hug later.
It wasn't much but y/n was a bit too shy to go further.
Her face flushed red as she thought about kissing him and she slapped her cheeks to snap herself out of it.
She realised she couldn't hear at all while travelling in the mist however, her vision was much clearer than normal.
Y/n gasped when Jotaro suddenly collapsed, his feet and arm boiling up.
The rat shot already.
Y/n chewed her bottom lip and climbed up the hill faster, the fog following her as she approached the rocks.
Three sudden shots were shot in her direction and she ducked down quickly, falling out of the mist.
"Y/N! Are the rocks in your range ?" she heard Josuke shout. "I need you to break it!"
"No!" she shouted back, clambering back to her feet. "But I'll try!"
She made a mad dash towards the rocks, catching a glimpse of the rat as Josuke shot at the rocks, chipping off some stone.
The rat squeaked, confused about who to shoot just as Gentle smashed at the rocks, breaking it as the rifle round, grazed her Stand's arm, shooting it through the scope of Bug-Eaten's Stand and through its open mouth.
Bug-Eaten's Stand disappeared and y/n dropped to the floor letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"in the end I wasn't able loser at all. Call me Josuke Higashikata, the man who deflects pressure!" y/n stood up smiling and ran down to help Jotaro.
"but thankfully, Josuke's pretty reliable." Y/n heard Jotaro say as she moved over to his side.
"So I'm not?" she asked, the older male giving her a small smile before looking away.
"You both work well together," he said as Josuke ran over to start healing his wounds. "Good grief, we can finally catch a break."
y/n sat down on the grass and stared into the sunset as Josuke healed Jotaro's wounds, the older letting out a old man grunt as he stood up.
"Okay I'm gonna go call my wife now, are you both able to get back on your own?" he asked.
"Yeah, I gotta go back to heal those people though!"
"The Speedwagon foundation would've reached by now, but it'll be better if you could heal that couple too."
Y/n and Josuke waved goodbye to Jotaro and ran off towards the farmhouse again.
•••
"Alright, we'll take over from here Mr Higashikata and Ms l/n! You've been of great help." One of the speedwagon foundation employee thanked them as the old couple were carted into the ambulance to cover up Josuke's healing ability.
The employee didn't disclose how they were going to cover up this whole incident but y/n could guess with some documents and agreements.
Just as they were about to leave, y/n heard someone calling for her.
"The patient is awake and wants to see you Ms l/n," the nurse said as they headed towards the ambulance.
"M-me? I don't even know them.." she entered the ambulance to see the old lady up.
"Y/n l/n is that you?" she flinched at her name being called.
What was her relation to me!?
•••
Sorry for the super late update hhhh,,, ive been really busy with stuff and well ,, this IS a long chapter so HAHHA
anyways i plan to cut down on the story abit, i jst realised i've been including way too much shit possible for me to write so!
hoped you enjoyed this chapter and as always, stay tuned for the next (shorter most prob) chapter <3
-maru